Changing Banks

[Dougal]

Can anybody recommend a good bank in GA please?

Thank you

Dougal

[Corporal Jones]

There are no good banks just ones that shaft you more or less than the other.

[SteveL]

If you live here then sabadells cuenta expansión works well.

[Dougal]

Thank you for your helpful comment Stevel

[diggybabe]

Like Dougal we are looking for bank being currently with Sabadell and just paid in toal about 100 euros in varios charges. Whilst in Santa
Pola the other day we noticed Santander had a 123 account paying 3% interest for up to !5000 euros which sounded reasonable. However we don't know what other charges they levie against you on top of the monthly charge to have the 123 account. Has anyone tried Santander?

[chris and jackie]

If Santander is like UK equivalent there is a monthly fee which is just going up and the interest rates are going down.
We went into Sabadell recently and spoke to a very helpful assistant who changed our account over to one where the charges were not as high and included the debit cards which you get charged separately for.
If you can pay in a minimum amount each month which I think was 800 euros then you can have free banking even if you are not a full time resident.
We would not spend the required amount annually so did not proceed with the free account.

[Dougal]

Having looked around, the only way to get a bank account without charges is to pay an amount, usually around 800 euros, in each month. This shouldn't be a problem if you are resident here and have regular payments made such as salary or pension. Again there could still be some charges as there are in the UK with certain accounts. If like us you only visit once or twice a year you will probably have to take the option of an account which will pay your direct debits and charge you for the 'services' involved.

Re Santander.  Santander in Britain and Santander Spain are two different entities where accounts are concerned. Santander UK has just reduced the 3%interest to 1.5% and there is a monthly charge. You cannot have one overall account for both countries. Would be very surprised if their interest rate doesn't change here. At the end of the day I would advise look around and if there isn't much difference in charge pick the bank which is most conveniently situated for you.

[nigeldodd]

This "the only way to get a bank account without charges is to pay an amount, usually around 800 euros, in each month" seems to be correct. I have recently been to Sabadell and the best they can offer is 130 Euros a year to run my account. The other options have hidden charges. Of course banks put your money to earn interest for themselves so they shouldn't really need to charge to run an account, as is evidenced in the UK. However banks enjoy a protected existence free from real competition and so they universally charge. More so in Spain than the UK, it seems.

I have been wondering whether it is possible to do without a bank in Spain. I have recently obtained a Monzo card in the UK with which I can make Euro purchases at the mid-rate exchange rate and no charges. I also use Transferwise to pay into Euro accounts from the UK. If I knew the IBAN numbers of Iberdrola, Agua, Suma and the community payments I could pay them using Transferwise. But the way payments are made is more obscure in Spain - so far as I remember before I set them all up as direct debit you had to go to your bank with a piece of paper with some magic numbers on - not a simple IBAN and reference ID - and the bank did it for you. Can anybody enlighten me on that please?

[llamedos]

It would never work because they need a physical bank account to set up your account, otherwise you could just not pay Your bill.


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[Blue and white stripes]

I'm with the BBVA up by Altomar 2 and have never had any problem with them. They've always been very helpful when I've ever needed them. The do charge - its about 2 euros a week but after 17 years I've no intention of changing.

[Corporal Jones]

Does Jobseekers allowance count towards the 800 euro minimum monthly pay in ?

[bertdove]

Yes, why not?

Bert